14 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 13, 2001
.. ...
The Gospel of Father
Predicting priest Haldane a web favorite
By Steve Jackson u Daily Sports Editor
. any Michigan fans have doubts love for the Wolverines is infectious. He wrote his first Altar Call in 1997.
about this upcoming football Every year my visitors and I look for- "I wrote it because of the Michi
season. The Wolverines gradu- ward to his Altar Calls." fans' disappointment with the (No.
ated three NFL-quality offensive line- Here is his description of this year's preseason ranking," Haldane said f
men and both its all-time rusher and star Michigan State game. his Mesa, Ariz. home. "There was a
wide-out from last season are now with of criticism of Michigan and fearc
the Chicago Bears. To make matters "And I saw the Lloyd appear poor season. I wrote this to stir tl
worse, the man they expected to be their beside the TEAA; And the maize blood."
quarterback is currently hitting .201 for glow of the sun was upon him; And In addition to predicting the Wol
the Colubus Clippers. the TEAM was singing the Victors; ines' first National Championship ie
After the exodus of all this offensive And the Green Giants trembled. years, Haldane also foresaw a num
firepower, Michigan fans needed some- And the sky grew dark and the of other less-than-likely events.
one to give them hope for this year. acclamations and shouts of the He correctly anticipated that Mi
Fortunately, the Wolverines have a Giants turned to great bellowings gan State would visit Ann Arbor a
faith-giving prophet, Father John Hal- as of calves before the slaughter losing to lowly Northwestern. HeI
dane and his " Altar Call," which pre- And before them were four beasts dicted that the Wolverines would me
dicts a 12-0 National Championship anchoring a line of warriors. And Penn State team, with its only loss c
season in the literary style of the Bible's those beasts gave glory and hon- ing against Ohio State. He even na
Revelations. our and thanks to him that stood the exact date that Michigan wouldI
"Football is a religion and Saturday is on the sidelines; to him that lead- be voted No. 1 in the country before
the Holy Day of obligation," Father John eth, and was reviled by Brent. And season started.
said. then the two and twenty giants fell "It was almost spooky," Haldane s
The Altar Call has become an annual down be/o'e him that stood on the "All those things that I said came tru
staple on a number of Michigan football sidelines, and they cast their He did everything but predict
websites including: The Victors Valiant, crowns b/ore him, saying, 'Weie Nebraska vs. Missouri kicked ball i
The Wolverine Den, The Workman Poll, not eorths, we 're not s orthy; 'And dent that vaulted the Wolverines to
Jag's Top 25, and UMGoBlue.com. the ictey was complete that day top of the poll.
"I've been entertained by Father and the Red Cedar ran Blue. And And he punctuated his vision int
John's writings for several years now," so it was, and so it shall be. 8-0." matic fashion:
said Phil Callihan, who works as the "DO YOU BELIEVE? SAY YE
webmaster for UMGoBlue.com. "He's is But this is not the first time that Hal- Amen."
a true 'Michigan Man.' His spirit and dane has seen a perfect season coming.
gan
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MEDIA
Continued from Page 13
and I like them all," Carr sail
going to try to be fair and give tI
an opportunity. John Navarre h
advantage in that he's been her
been in games, all of those things
Carr was also high on transfer
terback Spencer Brinton, w-
spent the past two years on a mis
South Africa.
"You sense immediately thai
a maturity about him," Carr sail
kid has had some experiences tb
tainly I've never had, and most
haven't had - experiences th
mature you in a hurry."
FILLING IN: Carr expects
Marquise Walker and sophomore
Perry to step into the voids 1
David Terrell and Anthony Thom
"Marquise came in here with
Terrell as the two most highly-
receivers in the nation, and I th'
a guy that needs to have a go
for us," Carr said.
"I expect Chris Perry to be a
standing tailback," Carr said.
Haldane predictable in his predictions.
and we have a young but experienced
defense that could really carry them a
long way."
Haldane pointed to three games that
could be problematic for the Wolver-
ines: Washington, Ohio State and
Michigan State.
"Traveling all the way to Seattle
could be difficult on the players.
Remember Miami (Fla.) lost up there
last season," he said. "There is going to
be a lot of hype for that game, too."
Haldane is confident that Ohio State's
new coach Jim Tressel will revitalize
that program and the rivalry with Michi-
gan, but his successes against the
Wolverines are still a few years away.
"I'm also a little concerned about the
Michigan State game," Father John said.
"That team is loaded with talent, but the
question is: Will they be able to perform
at their top level against Michigan? I
don't think so."
ALTAR CALL FUTURES
All of Father John's fans can breathe
easier knowing that the 2001 Altar Call
- the fifth time in a row he has predict-
ed an undefeated season for Michigan
-will not be his last.
"I'm going to do this every year,"
Haldane said. "Every season the fans
start off with anxiety, and its my job to
pump them up and get them to believe."
Father John will continue to take his
football gospel to the fans for as long as
he can write.
"Stand and cheer for your team with
all your heart, all your soul and all your
mind,"he said. "Believe!"
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Today, he will answer the call of the
Michigan faithful once again. After
opening the season at No. 10 in the
Coaches' Poll, the Wolverines are cer-
tainly not the favorites to take home the
Sears Trophy - but neither was the
1997 team.
That year, the Wolverines started
three new offensive linemen, the quar-
terback situation was unresolved in the
summer, the running game had no big-
name tailback and the defense was the
strength of the team.
Sound familiar? It does to Father
John.
"Not much is being ekpected of this
team," he said. "I have a lot of confi-
dence in (quarterback) John Navarre,
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(Regular $12.00).
Simply bring this coupon to
Supercuts. As usual, no
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715 N. University " 668-8488
But come in soon, this offer ends
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SUPERCUTS
Account Executive
The Michigan Daily
wuld like to thank
their
supporters
Senior linebacker Larry Foote tai
time to sign a 2001 media guide
12-year-old Matt Craig of Milan,
GOALIE
Continued from Page 13
best in the nation that year.
But sometimes the road to s
can be a bit bumpier. Turco g-
seven goals in his first Blue-
game.
"Everyone looked around as.
'Gee, that is going to be our s
goalie,"' Berenson said. "Butt
lot of confidence in Marty t
would do fine, and he did."
Turco sat for the first two
that year, but that didn't s
from becoming one of the m
cessful goalies in the history
lege hockey. He finished his
as the all-time record hol
NCAA wins (127) and CCII'
(82).
As of last week, Berenso
neither found a walk-on third
for next year nor identified I
candidate to be'Michigan's a
the future. 1
"If I were a top goalie, I
love to come to Michigan," I
son said. "I'm sure that we'll
great goalie. Ins not worried
that."